Archives for June 2016

It’s been three months since The Underemployed Life launched. During that time, we’ve solved the problem of underemployment. Our work here is now officially over. Thank you and good night. Wait, what? We didn’t fix it? Underemployment is actually worse now? It’s still a raging fire devouring the globe? I’m exaggerating for comic effect?

So, underemployment…..We all know it’s awful to work at a job that doesn’t utilize our skills or education. A lot of us waste our creativity and intellect in jobs that only give us a paycheck, and nothing more. That’s not good for us as individuals, and it isn’t good for society. A society prospers when it’s citizens are engaged in meaningful work.

“Starting July 1st, we’re adding several new contributors to the site. Young, middle, and older aged writers, from different backgrounds and all walks of life, giving their own take on underemployment.”

Answer: That is actually more of a request than a question John, but we’re just happy to be here. J. Parks lives in a cage. Trust us. It’s better that way. We keep a water bowl, and a dish of nuts for him so he can keep his energy up when he’s writing. Per your request John, we asked him to lay down by his dish. He responded by grabbing some nuts. Probably best to leave it at that.

Underemployed people are hard to categorize as a group. There isn’t one kind of underemployed person. We come from different backgrounds, age ranges, and cultures. Our levels of education, experience, and skill couldn’t be more diverse. And though the underemployed defy easy stereotypes, there is one job that seems to attract more than its fair share of them. I’m talking about sales jobs. Why sales? Money would be the obvious answer, and it definitely figures in. However, sales offers some attractive fringe benefits besides the promise of money. This post lists the top five reasons why so many underemployed workers choose a job in sales.

1. You can be free to be the worst version of yourself

Unleashing your id is what sales is all about. Breaking shit out of frustration, hyper-competitiveness, greed, unearned anger, and many other awful emotions are net positives when you work in sales. Can you be hateful, spiteful, and needy? Great, welcome to the job.

Sales people openly hate it when their peers close a deal, and love it just as much when they’re getting their ass kicked. Nowhere else will you see contempt and hostility for a coworker so openly expressed.

“What, you just sold a car? I fucking hate you. Die in a fire.”

“The guy bitched you out, and called you a sleaze. Hahaha!! That’s great. I love it.”

There’s also a weird camaraderie among sellers. You’ll burn the candle on both ends with them, attempt to fuck the other over if you think you can get away with it, and then be sad if they leave for another job.

Nothing sums up sales better than this anecdote. A salesman I knew, snuck into the store he worked for on his day off. He hid in a broom closet that was slightly ajar. The guy thought a customer he’d worked with the day before might come back, and a coworker would steal his sale. He stayed in the broom closet all day waiting to catch him. That is some grade A, FDA approved, crazy. Even funnier, that story was told to me proudly by the guy who did the hiding.

“Sales jobs are relatively easy to get. Lack of experience usually doesn’t count against you. Sales jobs also have the potential for uncapped income.”

The first Working with Dickheads featured the manager of a mattress store. So does this one, but not the same guy. Be assured, I’ve worked with dickheads at lots of other jobs, but the mattress industry seems to attract them like moths to some sort of bright hot thingy I can’t quite remember the name of. Anyway, for this edition of Working with Dickheads, we turn to a man I worked with who had a ridiculously inflated sense of self. A person who said some of the most profoundly stupid things I’ve ever heard in my life. This guy would almost be dangerous if he wasn’t so dumb. In fact, if you could peer inside his head you would see a few stray pigeons flying around, constantly knocking into each other, and falling to the ground.

I’d been working for Sleep Train for nine months when the district manager called to tell me he was moving me to another store. That was common practice. The store I’d be working at would be staffed by me and one other person: the manager. A little information on the duties of a mattress store manager. The manager makes the schedule and handles inventory. Aside from that, nothing differentiates them from a salesperson. They have no real authority. They can’t fire or hire. They can’t discipline for poor work performance. Most of them can barely push the right code for an alarm system. Pssst-It’s 1234. Don’t tell anyone.

“J. what you need to know about me is that I rule with an iron fist, but wear a velvet glove. I have many expectations for the way you’ll conduct yourself in the store.” With those words, one thing was clear-my manager was a gigantic schmuck.”

Underemployment is tough. Unemployment is tougher. However, it’s a closer call than you might think. Underemployment wins, but just by a hair or two. In my view, there’s little to feel good about when you’re working a job that’s dull and uninspiring. I’m sure many of us have stared out the window of a job we disliked and thought, “there has to be something better than this.” The problem is finding that “something better,” and that’s the one silver lining about being unemployed. It allows you to concentrate on what you really want to do, and go after it. I speak from experience.

I was unemployed for the first time in 2013. Previously, I’d worked from 1995 to 2012 without any gaps in my work history. After seventeen years of steady employment, I wasn’t in a rush to get to the next gig. I felt like I needed some down time, and it’s fair to say I was a little burnt out. I had unemployment insurance coming in, a few bucks saved up for a rainy day, and wasn’t motivated to immediately start looking for another job.

“If you need a good cry, sit yourself in front of the television from 11am to 5pm. It’s a horror show of soap operas, insipid talk fests, fake doctors, court shows, and endless pharmaceutical ads. I get chills just thinking about it. I wonder if there’s a pill for that?”

In previous essays, I’ve attacked some of the country’s biggest corporations for their relentless greed, mistreatment of employees, and disturbing amorality. I think there’s little doubt underemployment, stagnant wages, and a disappearing middle class are largely due to the enormous power too many U.S. corporations wield today. Having said that, it’s important to acknowledge when a company gets it right. When they treat their employees with the dignity and respect they deserve. I worked for one such company. They were a business that implemented a culture of fairness and decency. More notably, they proved a big corporation could treat their employees well, and still be hugely profitable.

In November of 1998, I received a call from the staffing agency I belonged to. They asked me if I wanted to work as a temp for a company called Airtouch Cellular. I would start out in order processing. I said yes. That “yes” changed my life. At the time, I was 31 years old, and had no job, no savings, no plan. It was not a great time to be me.

“They awarded movie tickets and gas cards for motivation. As a comparison, at my last job, I couldn’t even get paper plates or clean drinking water.”

In part two of our interview with Career Counselor Arlene Hirsch, she discusses the economic challenges new college graduates face, the fantasy of “the perfect career,” and the importance of learning how to search for a job efficiently.

TUL: In our last interview we spoke to several college students who thought this was a worse time to enter the job market compared to past generations. What do you think?

AH: New college graduates (especially liberal arts majors) have always struggled to gain a foothold in the job market. However, many college graduates are carrying way too much college debt. This limits their freedom of movement, and forces them to focus on making money, something which would otherwise not be their first priority.

Another truly unique challenge relates to the incredible pace of change, and the overwhelming array of options. Christine Hassler likens this to having a meal at the Cheesecake Factory. There are just too many choices, and too many things they’d like to try. Research tells us that more isn’t always better. At some point it’s counterproductive, because they are never completely happy with their choice. They’re always wondering whether they made the right choice. I tell them if they enjoy what they’re doing, and find the work meaningful, then they made the right choice.

Unfortunately the whole “follow your passion” myth has created this fantasy that there’s some perfect job or perfect career. As soon as something isn’t perfect they start looking for something else. I don’t know where this statistic comes from, but it’s repeated quite a bit, namely: that only about 20% of people have some innate, pre-existing passion to follow. The other 80% can search their souls ’til kingdom come and not find what they’re looking for, because they’re looking in the wrong place. Not all of the answers reside within; some of the answers are out in the world waiting to be discovered. There can be many right choices. Many college graduates enter the job market without the requisite skills or experience to make good career choices. They may need to actively add new skills into their repertoire.

There is a sad irony. While many of these intelligent and capable young adults struggle to find good jobs, many employers are concerned about talent gaps and shortages that put their organizations at risk. This can happen when college students only study what they want to study without regard for what the job market needs. My personal belief is that college should be a mix of studying things that you really find interesting, and taking some courses strictly because they have labor market value.

Let me give you an example. I was recently asked to evaluate career opportunities in the insurance industry. Not selling insurance, but working within the corporation in marketing or training or underwriting. What I discovered is that the average age of insurance industry professionals is 54, and that the industry will lose 400,000 jobs by 2020, mostly through retirement. They are desperate to attract college graduates. But they’ve been unable to attract this population because their industry doesn’t have a great reputation and/or because young adults assume that the work will be boring. It doesn’t have to be.

“I think my job is to teach people how to make good career decisions. This is a trial-and-error process. You can learn a lot from your mistakes.”

Chicago based psychologist and career counselor Arlene Hirsch has a lot to say about the state of employment in this country. She’s written multiple best selling books on how to find career success, and is a respected expert in her field. Arlene also appears regularly in the media, offering advice on career growth and effective job searching.

Through her practice, Arlene advises clients on pursing their career goals with conviction and focus. In part one of our two part interview, we asked Arlene about the psychological toll on the underemployed, what stops people from finding meaningful employment, and her strategies for finding a better job.

The Underemployed Life: You offer career and psychological counseling through your practice. What are some of the psychological effects of underemployment you see in your clients?

Arlene Hirsch: There is often a lack of a sense of self-efficacy. People who are underemployed are often afraid to hope for something because they aren’t confident that they can achieve what they want. If they make an effort, and that effort fails, they easily lose hope and give up.

TUL: Do you think their giving up too easily is related to an absence of support from friends and family or more from a lack of confidence they can navigate the job market?

AH: I would say both. When parents are supportive it helps boost their confidence. Teachers, coaches and mentors can also play key roles. Coaches are particularly helpful because they are part cheerleader and part skill builder.

Millennials are very close to their parents and really look to their parents to be encouraging. When parents are discouraging they often lack the courage of their own convictions.

TUL: In your opinion, what prevents people from finding meaningful employment?

AH: The word “meaningful” is important. Often people aren’t sure what would be meaningful to them. This is particularly true, I think, for people who aren’t interested in business careers. It seems that many “fall into” jobs that they don’t want or like because they think that’s all they can get or else they don’t know “what’s out there?”

“a job search is, by definition, uncomfortable. If you try to avoid the discomfort you can’t really engage in the process.”

Interviewing for a job can bring up intense fears and anxiety. You worry about what to wear. What to say. Is my resume up to snuff? Do I make eye contact? How direct should I be? What about my handshake? How hard? How firm? How long? Wait…what are we talking about? Oh yeah, calming your throbbing panic from becoming engorged with stress. Anyway, the tension can be so all consuming, it’s no wonder most people say fuck it, and just stay at a job they hate.

If you’re someone who wilts at the thought of interviewing for a new job, I have some excellent tips for you. I’ve been on both sides of the interview desk, so I know what hiring managers are looking for, and I also know the fears that interviewees go through. Some of my tips may seem cheeky or cynical, because they are. They also work.

“Cold calling is like a loud dog whistle for humans.­ It lets other people know you really really fucked up in life.”